Angels Surround Us

Earlier this year, I stopped to let an ambulance go through an intersection, and the driver behind me slammed into the back of my car. I lurched forward in my seat and heard the shattering glass. Then everything was quiet.

I was fine. My car was badly damaged, but I was OK. As I stood there looking at the damage—glass everywhere, the tailgate pushed in, and the giant truck that had hit me, I was upset. But I was mostly relieved to be all right. It could have been much worse. And the other driver and I were both fine.

I credit my guardian angel. So many times I have felt that my guardian angel is watching out for me—whispering in my ear, nudging me to check to make sure I didn’t leave the stove on, encouraging me to schedule that doctor’s appointment that would be so easy to put off.

We are never alone. We are surrounded by angels. God is everywhere, and these heavenly spirits are with us every day. What an incredible gift to know they accompany us—as messengers and protectors and guides—as we navigate the busyness and chaos and obstacles of our daily lives. Knowing that brings such peace.

There’s something truly special about your guardian angel, your own personal companion through life. When I was a child, I marveled at the idea of having a personal angel. It felt magical and special, and it made me feel so loved by God. It still does.

“The worth of souls is so great that from birth each one has an angel assigned to him for his protection,” St. Jerome said. Imagine being loved that much—and we are.

When we were adopting our sons, we waited months to travel to bring them home. Their guardian angels certainly heard from me during that time. I prayed often, asking them to keep an eye out for a baby my husband and I had never met.

There is nothing that makes you more helpless than being thousands of miles from your child. Were they getting enough to eat? Were they sick? Were they in loving care? Were they being prepared to meet us?

I would never know the answers to my questions through the limited updates we received from China. But I knew our sons were not alone. I kept reminding myself that God held them in his hands. And I thought often about how they each had an angel, a protector, watching over them as they did all the crazy things toddlers do.

Now that they are teenagers, they are often on their own—and trailing their cell phones only tells you so much. I still ask their guardian angels to keep an eye out for them. I am sure I always will.

As we celebrate the feast of the Guardian Angels on Oct. 2, may we find comfort and strength knowing that we are never alone. God loves us so much he created an angel to accompany us through life and take us all the way to heaven.

During this week of beautiful feast days, we also mark St. Therese of Lisieux’s on Oct. 1. I came across this lovely poem she wrote about Guardian Angels.

O thou who speedest through all space
More swiftly than the lightnings fly!
Go very often, in my place,
To those I love most tenderly.

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